Online purchasing methods follow a typical pattern for many types of products or services. New customers typically create a user account with a user ID and password and provide information such as a mailing address, email address, and a credit card number or other form of payment. When the customer returns make subsequent purchases, perhaps months later, the customer may not remember their user ID or password. In the case of subscription products, a purchaser may not return to the sales web site to renew a subscription for a year. If the customer represents a corporation, the user account may be shared among multiple purchasers, increasing the chances that the customer credentials may have been forgotten or changed. Unfortunately for the e-commerce vendor, each step in the purchase process may result in lost customers due to forgotten credentials or user abandonment.